India has scored a strategic win by securing the operating rights to a terminal at Bangladesh’s Mongla port amid China’s growing influence in the Indian Ocean, according to observers.

The deal is seen as part of New Delhi’s efforts to catch up with Beijing in a global maritime race to gain quasi-control of foreign ports, reports the South China Morning Post.

The Hong Kong-based newspaper mentioned that Mongla port, Bangladesh’s second largest seaport after Chittagong, is India’s third successful bid to run overseas ports in recent years, after Chabbar in Iran and Sittwe in Myanmar. The details of the Mongla port deal are yet to be made public.

According to media reports, quoting a senior Indian official from the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the terminal will be operated by Indian Port Global Limited (IPGL).

Former Indian naval officer Commodore C Uday Bhaskar told This Week in Asia: “Mongla is a potentially major opportunity for India to establish its credibility as an equitable port partner for Indian Ocean littorals seeking such expertise.”

Bhaskar, a director of the Delhi-based think tank Society for Policy Studies, pointed out that India did not figure in the world’s top 10 ports based on container traffic, whereas China had six on the list.

“Globally India is a relatively lightweight nation when it comes to ports, and it is only in the last few years that this sector has received attention and investment,” the honorary fellow of India’s National Maritime Foundation said. Quasi-control of key ports globally could enhance a country’s capacity to project its maritime power as evident in China’s investments in more than 100 ports in 63 countries, Bhaskar added.

A billboard on the 10th anniversary celebrations of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Islamabad, Pakistan. Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan is a key part of the CPEC. Photo: EPA-EFE

A billboard on the 10th anniversary celebrations of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Islamabad, Pakistan. Gwadar port in southwestern Pakistan is a key part of the CPEC. Photo: EPA-EFE

“The progress [by Indian companies] in Iran and Myanmar has been uneven due to other geopolitical factors, and hopefully Mongla will allow for speedy execution of the agreement.”

The Indian Ocean region is pivotal in China’s Maritime Silk Road initiative. Beijing is making substantial investments in ports ranging from US$78 million in Djibouti to US$1.6 billion in Gwadar, Pakistan.

Chinese companies are currently involved in 17 Indian Ocean ports, constructing 13 of them and holding stakes in eight of the projects. Beyond the Indian Ocean, Chinese companies have also signed leases for ports or terminals in countries such as the United Arab Emirates.

The Mongla port deal comes after a two-day visit last month by Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India where she met her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi. Both countries signed several cooperation agreements including in maritime.

Earlier this month, Hasina travelled to China and met President Xi Jinping. According to a report by The Diplomat, Hasina failed to secure a US$5 billion loan from Beijing to support Bangladesh’s budget and instead only received financial assistance of US$137 million.

Management of the Mongla port terminal will boost India’s influence over key maritime locations on the western and eastern sides of the Indian Ocean and reinforce its role in regional security, according to experts.

“Building and managing ports is a form of ‘port diplomacy’ – a refurbished national power tool – which is acquiring strategic significance and China has pursued this path with great success,” Bhaskar said.

In 2018, Bangladesh granted India full access to the Chittagong and Mongla ports for transit and cargo shipping. Gaining operational control of the terminal at Mongla would further enhance India’s trade connectivity, Bhaskar said.

Over the next 25 years, strategically located ports in the Indian Ocean region would acquire greater importance for the major powers, according to Bhaskar. China already has a large footprint even though it is not one of the ocean’s littoral states, he added, citing its port investments in the Maldives, Djibouti, Gwadar in Pakistan and Hambantota in Sri Lanka.

About 80 per cent of China’s energy imports pass through the Indian Ocean region, and ports have become crucial for its strategic investments, according to media reports.

“China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative mega-project is predicated on efficient management of critical connectivity nodes in the global supply chain and this is a high priority area for Beijing,” Bhaskar said. As such, India would have to review its port diplomacy and boost its competence in maritime management, he added.

“If India does not deliver on Mongla in a manner that Bangladesh expects, Dhaka may well turn towards Beijing. This happened in the case of Hambantota.”

Srikanth Kondapalli, the dean of the School of International Studies and a professor of China studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said India and other countries had noticed the spurt in China’s maritime port construction activities in the past two decades not just in the Indian Ocean region but also in other parts of the world.

“In general, such infrastructure projects are conducive to trade. However, China’s motives have come under scrutiny,” Kondapalli said.

Amid China’s maritime expansion, companies from countries such as the US, Japan, India and others have also been increasingly involved in port investments although their motives differ from that of Beijing, Kondapalli said.

“Private companies like Adani Group today are bidding for maritime projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Israel and other countries. These are private companies driven by profit motive with hardly any state or navy role. This cannot be said about China as there is not much difference between private and state,” Kondapalli said.

Sohini Bose, an associate fellow at Kolkata-based Observer Research Foundation, cited three reasons why the Mongla port was crucial for India.

“Firstly, it will be instrumental in enhancing bilateral trade with Bangladesh. Secondly, it will allow India’s landlocked northeast opportunities for maritime trade through alternative access to the Kolkata port, bypassing the narrow and congested Siliguri corridor,” Bose said.

With their proximity to each other, the Mongla port and the Kolkata port could shorten shipment time for goods, compared with delivery between Benapole town in Bangladesh and Petrapole land port in India in the border region, where consignments could get delayed for up to 15 days, Bose added.

“Thirdly, investments in Mongla Port would give India another foothold in the Bay of Bengal and the wider Indian Ocean region which is increasingly becoming an arena for geopolitical competition,” Bose said.

Harsh V Shringla, a former Indian ambassador to Bangladesh and ex-foreign secretary, said the Mongla deal should be seen as a move by India to help Bangladesh upgrade its port infrastructure rather than to counter China.

“India is assisting in developing the port through a line of credit. We shouldn’t read too much into this. India can move a significant amount of goods through this port, which otherwise need to be transported by road. Shipping is a much easier and cheaper option,” Shringla said.